Intellectual Merit: An All Catfish Species Inventory (ACSI)
is proposed as Phase I of a long- term PBI of the Otophysi, the largest clade
of freshwater fishes. The inventory is expected to result in the discovery and
description of up to 1,750 new species of catfishes and, ultimately, in the
description of between 2,300 and 4,600 new species of freshwater fishes. It
will result in the completed taxonomy of a globally diverse taxon, Siluriformes,
and later in the completed taxonomy of Otophysi, the clade containing over two-thirds
of all freshwater fishes.

Products of ACSI will include a completed taxonomy of catfishes
with up-to-date identification guides, atlases, catalogues and checklists of
species, phylogenetic studies of higher-level relationships among catfishes
and an improved predictive classification, large samples of freshwater fishes
from poorly collected regions added to permanent collections in U.S. and foreign
institutions, and enhanced international communication among fish taxonomists.
The project's website <http://clade.acnatsci.org/allcatfish/> and electronic
mail listserver will continue after the grant period for dissemination of ACSI
data and products, and provide for communication among taxonomists about research,
educational and outreach opportunities.

ACSI will be authoritative and rapid because it concerns organisms
of immediate interest to its many participants. Further, ACSI will set the stage
for the continuing inventory of other otophysans with an established international
network of senior and newly trained systematists, new and well documented museum
collections, identification of gaps in the global freshwater survey, and the
framework for documentation, analysis and delivery of large amounts of information
on specimens, taxonomy, phylogeny and freshwater biodiversity.

Broader Impacts: The training of students and postdoctoral
associates is a vital part of this project. Fifty-eight students (47 of them
in foreign countries) interested in participating in ACSI have been identified.
In addition, funding is requested for 26.5 years of support for graduate students
and 9 years of support for post-doctoral associates at the PIs institutions.
Students and postdoctoral fellows will work closely with senior taxonomists
in field and museum work, including manuscript preparation. PIs will strive
to increase the number of minority and female students in the project through
active recruitment. REU supplements will be requested to involve undergraduates
in museum research and fieldwork. Among the PIs are one first-time NFS- funded
investigator (Sabaj), and three young investigators (Friel, Ph.D. in 1995; Armbruster,
1997; and Sabaj, 2002).

Outreach activities will include the ACSI website, presentations
at scientific and other public meetings, and capitalizing on opportunities to
develop public museum exhibits and to publish popular articles on freshwater
biodiversity. An exceptional feature of ACSI is the large number of taxonomists
and students (N = 201 from 31 counties) who will participate in the project.
Many of the collaborators have worked together in the past, but ACSI will foster
new research and educational initiatives.

Knowing all species and higher-level relationships in a clade
as diverse and widespread as catfishes will offer unprecedented follow-up research
opportunities in evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Research will include
studies in descriptive systematics, phylogenetics, historical biogeography and
comparative biology.

Freshwater ecosystems comprise less than 0.01% of Earth's total
water volume. Degradation of freshwater ecosystems is severe in many parts of
the world, and aquatic species are among the most endangered. Conservation biologists
and fisheries managers depend on accurate taxonomies and museum collection records
for prioritizing areas for protection and for making informed species-specific
management policies. ACSI's fieldwork will provide for direct interaction between
in-situ conservation and resource managers and expert taxonomists. In addition
to its overall improvement of taxonomy, ACSI will enhance the accuracy and extent
of museum collection records of catfishes by expert identification and georeferencing
of associated locality data.

Because of their worldwide familiarity, catfishes are an ideal
inaugural clade for PBI and will help make this project a cynosure for inventories
and taxonomic work to follow.

OVERVIEW

National Science Foundation Biotic Surveys & Inventories Program
 Catfishes as an obvious choice
- highly diverse clade of fishes with a worldwide distribution in fresh and
marine waters
- under investigation by a large number of scientists
- large number of undescribed species
- important ecologically and economically
- extraordinarily interesting organisms

"All Species"?
"All species in five years" means "almost all, most, the
vast majority"
 A large number of unknown species will be discovered and described
 A large number of additional specimens of fishes, not just catfishes,
will be collected and made available for study
 A great deal will be learned about biodiversity, biogeography, areas
of high diversity and endemism,

Products will include:
 Descriptions of many new species of catfishes
 A website devoted to catfish diversity that will include a classification
of catfishes, digital images of type-specimens coupled with live or well-preserved
specimens, identification keys, distribution maps, a searchable bibliography
of literature, and information on the projects participants
 An electronic mail listserver to facilitate communication among catfish
taxonomists
 New collections of catfishes (and many other fishes) from locations where
undescribed species are likely to be found
 The training of students and postdoctoral associates in catfish taxonomy
and systematics

Funding will be available for:
 Rapid peer-reviewed publication of species descriptions at no publication
cost to authors or their institutions
 Travel to institutions housing collections of fishes
 Fieldwork in areas likely to contain large numbers of undescribed catfishes
 Support for students, postdocs, technical assistance
 Workshops